July Update - Now we're talking! Thoughts
Published on Friday, August 5, 2016 By
The July update was a very good one for me. It feels like the game is on a roll with development now. More than just (awesome) sketches, it's got some meat on the bones. Granted, there's not gameplay in it yet, but these sounds, effects, v/o's, and concept art are starting to create a good idea in my head of what the game will be like.
In no particular order:
Human ship design - Love the bright colors on the optional components and modules. I absolutely dreaded the idea of yet another blue/grey/white human ship with a rotating center. It's been done before. Babylon 5 popularized that and did a great job, but I've rolled my eyes every time since. Making the modules extra bright is GREAT! It will make the ships more unique and interesting. I don't want to get bored with my flagship!
Planet critter designs - I can't say enough good things about these! Whoever is coming up with the concepts is on fire. I have too many favorites to list. Please pick however many dozen of these to put in game...they're all winners! Top panel standouts: 14, 15, 18, 19. Middle panel standouts: 1, 2, 6, 11, 14, 16,19, 20, 24, 26 (lol!), 27 v2. Bottom panel: Barlow, Boulder Serpent, Evil Eye Biter Tripod (Awesome!), Trider, Mushphoolip.
Your question of how to introduce the creatures...I don't understand the question...in SC2 we found them on some planets, and not on others...assumed it would be the same here...
Figure 11 - Planet Designs - I'm actually going to talk about the lander...I like the wheeled/arm lander much better! Will you use that and the phallic (sorry, that's how I think of it - already told you it's not my favorite design.) lander , or just one design?
Planets still look awesome!
The intro video sketch is good. I built on it some in my reply to the July Update Thread. It's a good foundation for a cool idea I had, or whatever your team comes up with next. It needs more before and/or after it, as it doesn't tell quite as much story as it could, standing by itself.
Music - The music is quite promising. I like the bit of nostalgia that it brings. I've seen others speaking against racial music, but I think it's a great idea. Many people won't even notice. You can't associate the music until you meet the aliens it belongs to anyway, so it's not going to be a big deal. It will however, be a great way to help create a sense of cultural border within otherwise black and empty space. Please keep racial music while exploring!
The Super-Melee music is perfect!!! Don't know why, but it just is...sorry if that's not very helpful. I want to make it my ringtone. DO. NOT. CHANGE. A. THING!
Tywom Dialogue music - more precusion, less synthesizer maybe?
Planet music - meh...I'm good either way. The clips were too short to make much impression either direction.
Xraki dialogue - Really nice! Good atmospheric music!!!
Xraki space - again, good atmosphere on this race's music! Carry that principle over to others. Timpany drums and violins at parts are a great addition, so that it's not all synthesized music!!!
Trandal's Rig Clip - I'm looking at the meat the whole time, not the device. Any way to highlight the device more? Glowing, shinier?
Multiverse Explanation linking all 4 Star Control games - This is simple and it works. Thanks for going with a good answer on this. I love that the precursors appear in all universes!!! Gives me hope for the Orz and the Spathi too! *Wink wink*
Alien Race Art
Figure 2 - Butt-ugly, but certainly distinct! I can honestly say this doesn't remind me of anything else I've seen! Source lighting is a good call on this critter.
Figure 3 "Jeff" - LOVE it! Wasn't sure I'd see any bipedal aliens, but it's a good compromise between familiar and new. Love the stacked brains. Love the internal lighting and transparent skin! This one is so creative!!! I can't wait to meet him and see what the race is like, and isn't that the WHOLE POINT of the art design??? Please tell the guy/gal who drew this that the nailed it! I would appreciate that!
Figure 4 "Trandals" - Interesting, as we knew, but I don't know how much staying power it will have. Compared to the others, the critter is actually kind of boring, but I know some of that is on purpose. Can you make the device more prominent somehow? With motion and full artwork/sound, I'm sure they'll come alive *har har* more, but I'm putting this as my least favorite right now.
Figure 5 The Pinthi - Again, I am so eager to meet these aliens! The minimal design gives me NO CLUE as to what to expect with them, so they are high on my Curiousity Scale! Question thought - they are reminiscent of the Slylandro gas bags...is that ok with you? It is ok with me!
Figure 6 The Measured - The name gives me pause. Wouldn't they more likely be "The Measurers?" The Measured means they were judged or quantified by something else...if that's actually the case, then I'm curious about their story and what it means. If it's just a gimmick name, then it could stand to be tweaked.
That being said, I like the design a lot! Every universe has bureaurocrats! They are like the Precursors, Everywhere!
First 15 minute challenge -
First 15 minutes of gameplay:
Start w/ship in peril – first view of bridge is with red lights and alarms going off everywhere. Fuel is low, systems are in disrepair, electronics are not responsive. 1st mate says we’re near a star system that may contain the components we need to repair, but they’re on a nearby planet.
Brief player controlled fly-in to a planet (very minimal tutorial or aide steps! That was one of the great things about SC2 – you get hung out to dry right from the start!)
Planet lander sequence along with urgent instruction that we need to land safely and find “X” resource to repair, and “Y” resource to refuel. (Possibly plant a ship part on the planet that can be very quickly installed/upgraded, or make “X” a ship part that was scanned from orbit and looked compatible for repairs once the player returns to the ship.)
Planet landing should be scaled to take 3-5 minutes to complete at most, have some mild but guaranteed-to-occur perils, then launch back to the ship (successfully).
Back on the ship the light and power are back on, but smoke is still in the background on the bridge cutscene. 1st mate congratulates on a job well done, says some systems are usable, but player needs to return to Earth/Starbase to repair and refit.
On the journey to Earth nearby, a small combat/melee occurs, and any number of plot points can be introduced at this point, and this would be the end of the first 15 minutes of play.
Reasoning: Immediate peril is engaging. The main enemy of the first 12 minutes of play will be your own ship [low power/oxygen/fuel] and the environment [the landing itself, whatever the rover encounters, space, time]. A moderate sense of both urgency and helplessness would be reminiscent of SC2. (Have partial systems/UI available for this introductory portion, coming back online as the brief steps are concluded???) Only in the last 3 minutes or so with the first melee combat will an alien ship be an enemy. That’s where it can link up to the main story, or whatever you want it to do.
Please consider something like that for the first 15 minutes of the campaign gameplay. I think it would be instantly engaging, build sympathy and comradery with your ship, and be a natural way to introduce the major features of the game in a short span of time.
Marketing Trailer -
SC – Origin announcement/advertisement video script proposal
Text, V/O, or both, spoken slowly while montage plays:
“For thousands of years, mankind has reached for the stars.”
(Montage of tribals around a fire, pan up to sky filled with stars. Then zoom out from stars, revealing them to be reflected on the lens of a renaissance telescope, pan to blue prints on a desk, one is a rocket. Flesh out the rocket, blasting into space – the SC-O ship)
(SC-O ship flying through an obviously different star system to Sol – peacefully, beautiful)
Overlay text, V/O or both:
“In the year 2XXX, the stars reach back…”
(Sudden disruption per your sketch video, very brief action scene unique to SC-O.)
Fade to/text overlay:
“Star Control – Origin”
Fade out, then back in with:
“Coming 4Q2017”
OOOH! I just had an epiphany – The intro/commercial that I suggested with the brief action sequence, that could be what damages the ship! That could be the lead-in to the first 15 minutes of game-play! It’s all related [Makes spooky noise]!!!
If you've stuck with me till now, thank you!!! Again, great update! There is so much promising material in here. Not everything is a home run, and I hope you'll look at a few things, but so much is so good!
Thanks for what you're doing, and for including me.